During the Double Eleven shopping festival, monitors are on crazy discounts: MiniLED monitors see significant price drops, and OLED monitors are priced below 2000 yuan.

The Double Eleven shopping festival is here, and Naturally, the purchasing guide from Lei Technology won't be absent. The start time of this year's Double Eleven event is earlier than in previous years, which caught us a bit off guard. However, after observing for some time, I found that the platforms are offering one promotion after another, and the prices often hit rock - bottom. This is better than before, at least giving us more time to choose products.

Okay, let's cut to the chase. This article is mainly for those who want to buy a new monitor. The prices of monitors during this year's Double Eleven are generally quite good. Many mid - to high - end monitors released at the beginning of the year have seen significant price cuts. Additionally, in some regions (Shanghai and Fujian), there are national subsidies available. Depending on the energy - efficiency specifications of the monitor, you can get a 15% - 20% discount, which is quite a substantial reduction.

If you missed the 618 promotion before, then this year's Double Eleven is probably the time with the largest price cuts in the next year or two. So, if you have a need, don't hesitate any longer and make your purchase quickly.

Understand Your Needs Before Buying a Monitor

Of course, before listing the recommendations, I first want to ask a question: "Do you really know what kind of monitor you should buy?" Don't think this question is absurd; in fact, it's very important. Because the current monitor market is different from the past. It's no longer dominated by LED monitors. Instead, a tripartite situation of MiniLED, OLED, and LED has emerged.

Image source: AI - generated

Moreover, LED is further divided into different camps such as IPS, VA, and TN (the same goes for MiniLED). Friends who don't often follow the monitor market may have no idea how to distinguish and choose the truly suitable panel. Next, I'll explain the differences between various panels in a simple and easy - to - understand way.

First, let's briefly understand the differences between MiniLED, OLED, and LED. MiniLED and LED are both liquid - crystal displays, but they use different backlight technologies.

Among them, LED is the most familiar type to us. It uses an integrated light - emitting backplane and cannot perform zone - based dimming. Its advantages are low price and mature technology, while its disadvantages are low peak brightness and contrast. MiniLED, on the other hand, uses zone - based backlight technology. By independently controlling the brightness of each zone, it can significantly improve the contrast of the picture and also achieve extremely high peak brightness (usually between 1000 and 2000 nits, three to five times that of traditional LED).

Image source: TCL Thunderbird

As for OLED, it uses a completely different self - emissive technology. Each pixel can be independently controlled to turn on or off, making the theoretical contrast of an OLED monitor infinitely large. However, the disadvantages of OLED are also obvious, such as low overall brightness, high price, and the risk of screen burn - in.

After a preliminary understanding of the differences between the three types of monitors, let's delve deeper into IPS, VA, and TN. TN screens have become very rare in the past two years. The common monitors are mainly based on IPS and VA. The differences between these three types of panels are quite significant. To help you quickly understand, I've made a table:

Although with the iteration of technology, we now have special panels such as Fast IPS and HVA that can compensate for some of the corresponding disadvantages to a certain extent, generally speaking, the advantages and disadvantages of the three types of panels remain the same. As for OLED, it performs best in terms of viewing angle, color, contrast, and response time.

After remembering these characteristics, we can further discuss how to choose the right panel.

Generally speaking, I divide the needs for monitors into three categories: Focusing on gaming, balancing gaming and daily use, and focusing on daily use. Among those focusing on gaming, there are two sub - categories: "e - sports" and "others". If you're a fan of FPS e - sports games and can tolerate some minor drawbacks, your options are mainly IPS, TN, and OLED. Friends with a large budget can directly consider an OLED monitor. If your budget is limited, Fast IPS is a good choice, and if your budget is very tight, TN is an option.

Why choose these? Because the above three types of panels have high refresh rates and excellent response speeds, which can provide clear, blur - free images for FPS players, making them very suitable for fast - paced games. For non - e - sports game players, the corresponding choices are IPS, VA, and OLED. Generally speaking, OLED is suitable for almost all types of entertainment needs. The only question is whether your budget is sufficient.

For IPS and VA, it mainly depends on whether you value the HDR effect or color performance more. If you pursue better contrast, a MiniLED monitor with an HVA panel will be a better choice. If you pursue better color reproduction, panels such as QD - MiniLED, QD - NanoLED, and OLED are the preferred options.

If you want to balance gaming and daily use, except for TN, you can choose other types of monitors. It just depends on your priorities. If you have more needs for watching movies, it is recommended to choose a MiniLED monitor, regardless of the panel type, as most of them can meet your needs. Why not recommend OLED at this time? Although OLED has excellent color and high contrast, its low brightness makes it unable to handle daily needs well. Moreover, low - resolution OLEDs also have some bugs in text rendering, so it's not recommended for purchase.

Next, let's talk about choosing a monitor without considering gaming at all. This type of need is actually easy to meet. Traditional LED and MiniLED monitors are both good. If you like watching movies, choose a MiniLED monitor with a high number of zones. If you only plan to use it for office work, video editing, and design, a professional IPS monitor will be your best choice.

Which Monitors Are More Worth Buying?

After preliminarily determining the type of monitor, let's enter the actual recommendation section. I'd like to clarify in advance that this article is not an advertisement. It's the result of my comprehensive consideration of my actual experience, online reviews, and Double Eleven prices, and it's for reference only.

LED: A Stable Choice with Low Risk

LED monitors have gradually withdrawn from the high - end market in the past year. Although it's a pity, the good news is that we can now buy high - end LED monitors that used to cost six or seven thousand yuan at a very affordable price. Additionally, in the mid - to low - end market, LED is still one of the best choices in terms of overall experience. At least you don't have to worry about getting a bad product. (Note: The following recommendations are not in any particular order.)

ThundeRobot ZQ27F210L

Image source: ThundeRobot

This 27 - inch 2K monitor is equipped with a Fast IPS panel. It has a native 200Hz refresh rate, a response time of only 1 ms, a typical brightness of about 400 nits, and a peak brightness of 450 nits. It supports 95% DCI - P3 and 99% sRGB color gamuts, and also supports hardware low - blue light, DC flicker - free screen, and adaptive sync technology. The stand can be adjusted for height, tilt, rotation, and VESA wall - mounting.

Judging from the specifications, it can easily meet the gaming and daily entertainment needs of ordinary users. It's only sold for 799 yuan during Double Eleven, which is quite cost - effective. Monitors with similar specifications used to cost one or two thousand yuan.

LG 27G850A

Image source: LG

This is a 27 - inch 4K monitor that uses a Nano IPS Black panel. It has a contrast ratio of up to 2000:1, supports a native 240Hz refresh rate, and can switch to a 1080P 480Hz mode. The response time is 1 ms (GtG), the color gamut coverage is about 99% DCI - P3, the typical brightness is about 450 nits, and it has received the VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification.

This monitor is one of the glories of LED monitors. It performs excellently in all aspects and is truly a well - rounded product. It used to sell for six or seven thousand yuan, but during Double Eleven, it's priced at 3499 yuan. It's worthy of being called the top - tier LED monitor.

MiniLED: High Brightness, King of Entertainment

The prices of MiniLED monitors are currently dropping rapidly. It's really good news for movie lovers. The HDR effect brought by high brightness is truly remarkable. Gamers can also experience the "in - your - face" feeling of flashbangs. Whether for entertainment or movie - watching, it's an excellent choice. (Note: The following recommendations are not in any particular order.)

HKC G27M2

Image source: HKC

This 27 - inch 2K monitor uses QD - MiniLED technology and a Fast IPS panel. It has a peak brightness of up to 1000 nits, supports a 200Hz refresh rate, 10 - bit color depth, and has a color gamut coverage of about 97% DCI - P3. It has been factory - calibrated and is certified as VESA HDR1000, with about 1152 backlight zones for dimming.

Although its specifications are not outstanding among MiniLED monitors, it's only sold for 899 yuan during Double Eleven. At this price, what else can you ask for? If your main need is movie - watching, it's one of the most cost - effective monitors this year.

TCL Thunderbird U9

Image source: TCL Thunderbird

As the flagship model of TCL Thunderbird, the U9 supports 4K resolution and a 165Hz high - refresh rate and uses a new - generation HVA panel developed by China Star Optoelectronics. It balances both contrast and color accuracy and can be regarded as one of the most powerful MiniLED panels currently available. Moreover, the U9 has 2304 dimming zones, which can minimize problems such as haloing. Its peak brightness is as high as 1600 nits, easily meeting both gaming and entertainment needs.

It's sold for 2899 yuan during Double Eleven, and non - self - operated stores offer 12 - month interest - free installment payment. Considering its original price of 3999 yuan, this price is quite good. Moreover, the HVA panel solves the light - leakage problem of traditional panels, providing a better experience. The only pity is that it doesn't support dual - mode switching.

Hisense Dasheng G9

Image source: Hisense

Also a 27 - inch 4K monitor, the Hisense G9 supports dual - mode switching between 4K 160Hz and 1080P 320Hz, which can better meet the needs of e - sports games. It has as many as 2304 dimming zones, and its peak brightness reaches 2000 nits. However, the panel of the Hisense G9 is Fast IPS, and its native contrast is not as good as that of HVA. To solve this problem, Hisense has transplanted the same black - screen technology used in its TVs to the monitor, significantly improving the contrast.

Overall, the Hisense G9 has the strongest specifications among mid - range monitors. With the support of the TV - same technology, it can provide an excellent experience for both gaming and daily entertainment. Its regular price is 3999 yuan, and the lowest price during Double Eleven is 3479 yuan. There's also a limited - time activity where you can get a 200 - yuan JD E - card after posting a product review.

OLED: A High - End Choice for Those with Deep Pockets

OLED performs really well in terms of color, response speed, and contrast. However, we also need to be aware of some of the disadvantages of OLED monitors. For example, as mentioned before, the overall brightness is relatively low. Currently, except for a few high - end OLED monitors whose overall brightness can reach over 400 nits, the overall brightness of most mid - to low - end products is between 250 nits and 300 nits. If the room is brightly lit or the computer is facing a sunny window, the viewing experience will be seriously affected